Medical procedures cannot be contemplated without stands of the type mentioned above. During a treatment or a surgical procedure, different medical devices have to be positioned in space in such a way that all required functions are available and, at the same time, ergonomic work is possible. In this context, surgical microscopes, cameras, treatment or surgical instruments, screens for displaying videos and/or data and monitoring instruments are mentioned as examples of medical devices. For these, use is often made of stands with two or more support arms which are connected to one another via joint connections with each having one or more degrees of freedom of motion in such a way that a medical device attached to a support arm can be positioned within a defined workspace of the stand. Here, a workspace of the stand should be understood to mean the totality of all positions and angular positions which the stand and the medical device can assume in space.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,268 discloses a stand for a surgical microscope. The stand has a plurality of support arms connected in series, which, if required, can be aligned in a parked position.
A situation which often occurs in medical operation is that medical devices are only required temporarily. This particularly holds true in the case of surgical microscopes, which are often only required during specific treatment steps. Between the treatment steps or after completion of the treatment, the treatment space available to the medical practitioner, that is, the free space in the surroundings of the treatment location on the patient, is unnecessarily restricted by the medical device.